-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- You could see it in his eyes .

Even before Pope Francis spoke his first words to the throngs in St. Peter 's Square , you could look into his eyes and sense the wonder .

The world was looking at him . But he was looking at something , too : at all those upturned faces . At all the eyes staring back at him .

Nothing can possibly prepare a person for such a sight .

In this life , there are moments , and then there are Moments . The first appearance of a new pope on the balcony of St. Peter 's Basilica has always been a Moment like no other .

Before there was telegraphy , before there was radio , before there was television , before there was the Internet , before there was Twitter , the vision -- the solemn orchestration -- of a newly elected pope stepping onto the balcony was the most dramatic possible way of bringing huge news to the world .

It somehow still is .

Opinion : Francis , open up the church

`` I would like to thank you for your embrace , '' the new pope said , gazing out at all those eyes .

When authors and orators have searched for ways to express the ultimate example of reverential exaltation , the periodically repeated scene in St. Peter 's Square , down through the centuries , has often been the one they have turned to .

Tom Wolfe , in his book `` The Right Stuff , '' about the original Mercury astronauts , wanted to describe for readers just what level of devotion the newly named astronauts had received from the American people . The seven pilots had been just that -- fighter pilots , test pilots -- before being selected for the space program . Suddenly , they were something else . People would see them and begin crying .

Wolfe came up with the one ideal analogy to portray the phenomenon :

`` The boys would n't have minded the following . They would n't have minded appearing once a year on a balcony over a huge square in which half the world is assembled . They wave . The world roars its approval , its applause , and breaks into a thirty-minute storm of cheers and tears . ... A little adulation on the order of the Pope 's ; that 's all the True Brothers at the top of the pyramid really wanted . ''

Opinion : Pope Francis , humble , authentic and credible

But humility is not required of fighter pilots and astronauts . Nor is it required of rock stars or professional athletes or any of the many other public performers , in disparate venues , who are regularly introduced with carefully planned and marketed majesty designed to elevate them in the eyes of their audiences .

A pope is different , and his introduction to the world is like no other . When Wednesday morning dawned in Rome , a man named Jorge Mario Bergoglio was one of millions of people preparing to commence the new day .

By the time the day was over , he was no longer Jorge Mario Bergoglio , and he was no longer one of millions .

As Pope Francis , he stepped onto that balcony and was greeted by that sight .

From behind his eyeglasses , he took it all in .

The eyes of the world met his .

He asked for prayers .

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Bob Greene .

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Bob Greene : Before radio , TV , pope 's appearance was most dramatic way to announce news

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New pope 's appearance on the balcony of St. Peter 's is a moment like no other , he says

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Greene : You could see the impact of the moment in the pope 's eyes